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No one has to tell us about diets, indulging in sweets in moderation and watching the waist line. Our stretchy pants feel the pain of having to taste most everything that leaves the building everyday. Plus, I’m sure that you’ve read our previous post about “you can have your cake and eat it too” so I am not going to elaborate on that subject. So what, you ask, am I blogging about now? Well, it’s our newest endeavor.

We want to connect our customers with our local fitness centers, personal trainers/coaches and share healthy eating tips. You think it’s “weird” that the owners of a dessert cafe are blogging about fitness? Let me be clear, we definitely want you to get “BAKED” at the beach, but it is as important to us that our customers are happy and most importantly healthy. We hope you know that this is why we are committed to baking au’naturale. We seriously believe that good health and happiness are all about striking “the balance” between the “healthy” and the “indulgent”. Sometimes that balancing act is just down right difficult.

This idea came to me when I saw a customer of ours at the gym. She kindly commented on our facebook post and picture of our Monster Cream Puff asking, “Do you think I could eat half of one if I walk for 30 minutes on the treadmill”? “Why yes”, I replied and voila the proverbial lightbulb in my head went off. Why not connect with the local fitness gurus and share fitness tips, “specials” and wellness strategies with our fans? Why not ask our fans to share their success stories, tips and recipes. I don’t know about you, but I can use all of the help that I can get!

No matter if you are a local, just visiting or vacationing at the beach, there are a plethora of fitness centers to choose from and most offer yearly, seasonal, monthly, weekly and daily rates. Some are even open 24 hours a day. Fitness centers are not a “one size fits all” and gyms here are no exception. They offer different fitness philosophies, different work out schedules, classes and styles and varying approaches to reaching your fitness goals. Most of the centers provide personal coaching, some are class oriented, some more “free weight” minded. Some follow specific diet regimens like the Paleo Diet which one of our friends and customers recently shared a dessert recipe from. It was so delicious, Chocolate Babies are now on our “favorites” menu.

Shelly and I come from a large family who celebrate every occasion with food and we own a bakery for gosh sakes. We are constantly striving to strike “the balance” and so we work out almost every morning together. I personally can’t imagine the strain on our stretchy pants if we didn’t. One of the factors that we considered when joining a gym was the convenience of the location to the bakery and our children’s school. Let’s face it, some days are harder than others and for us convenience was a major consideration. I’ll be honest, the struggle for me is walking through the gym door. Once I make it past that threshold, I’m “golden” and I always feel physically and mentally better for it.

So, in addition to providing you the very best all natural desserts, breads and beverages, we’re also going to be “rooting out” fitness tips, gym specials and healthy dessert recipes for your overall wellbeing and enjoyment. We’ll be providing more gluten free, diabetic friendly and vegan dessert options at “BAKED” and are interested in your own personal success stories, winning tips, strategies and recipes. Visit us on facebook, share your strategies and join our quest to strike “the balance” for a happy, healthy, sweet life.

Soda breads are a variety of quick bread and are appropriately named since “bread soda”, otherwise known as baking soda, is used as a raising agent rather than yeast. The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour, bread soda, salt, and buttermilk. Although, you can get really creative here and include raisins, seeds, nuts, savory herbs, even oats. The buttermilk in the dough contains lactic acid, which reacts with the baking soda to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide. * I have seen some recipes that replace the buttermilk with live yogurt or even stout. I wanted to go the traditional route and didn’t have buttermilk on hand, so I made my own by simply adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or you can use lemon juice per one cup of milk.

You can form the bread loaf into the “traditional” round or flatten it and cook it on a griddle for the “griddle cake” form. Whichever shape your Irish Soda Bread takes it is important to resist the urge to over knead this dough. Only work it long enough to incorporate the ingredients. This brings me to the best thing about soda breads and is one of the reasons that they began to appear in the mid-19th century in Europe. Soda breads are easy and inexpensive to make and they are delicious! Of course the beginning of the 19th century was also when bicarbonate of soda first became available for use.

There are several stories about the significance of the cross made in the middle of the Irish Soda Bread loaf. Some say that it is the “sign of the cross” and wards off evil spirits. Others, that the cut in the top of this loaf assists the cooking process by allowing air circulation which in turn helps the loaf rise better. Most admit that the cut is an easy guideline for serving even slices. What I am certain of is that this bread won’t last long on the dinner table. It’s fabulous, particularly served warm slathered in butter.

The following recipe makes 2 loafs

7 cups unbleached, unbromated flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar (optional)

3 cups buttermilk

Sift to combine the flour, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Making a well in the center, add the buttermilk and stir to form dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and gently knead just enough to incorporate the ingredients. Form into a log and divide in half to form 2 round loafs. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cut a 1″ deep cross into the top of each loaf and bake for 45 minutes in a 375 degree oven or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Enjoy!